Update: Indiana offered Lander during his visit on Saturday.
Blessed to receive an offer from Indiana University, thank you to Head Coach Archie Miller and staff ⚪️?⚪️? pic.twitter.com/pRdX7W3BmV
— Khristian Lander (@khristianlander) September 8, 2018
Khristian Lander, of Evansville Reitz High School in southwestern Indiana is one of the top class of 2021 recruiting targets in the country. The point guard is taking an unofficial visit to IU this weekend, and will be taking another for Hoosier Hysteria on September 29.
We wrote the article below on Lander last month when he was included in 247Sports’ first class of 2021 player rankings.
From The Daily Hoosier, August 3, 2018
The long enduring trend of the Hoosier State consistently producing some of the best basketball talent in the country doesn’t appear to be letting up anytime soon.
There has been buzz surrounding the in-state talent in the Class of 2021 for some time now, and some of the first national acknowledgements of that sentiment are beginning to surface.
College basketball recruiting service 247Sports produced their first player rankings for incoming high school sophomores today. While they only included 15 players in their initial pass at the 2021 rankings, that was enough to include one of the young Indiana stars.
Evansville Reitz’s Khristian Lander came in as the 14th best player in the country in the class of 2021 rankings. While national analysts are starting to take note, folks in southern Indiana have known about the lefty point guard for some time now.
The awareness started with his family, but then, they probably weren’t surprised.
This story in the local Evansville paper describes a number of Khristian’s relatives with significant athletic accomplishments, including his dad Keith Lander, who played defensive back for Western Kentucky University, his cousin Vicki Lander, who was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in April, and his cousin Matt Lander, who played basketball for Western Illinois.
Lander put the rest of the state on notice with an impressive first high school season. In year one at Reitz he averaged 13.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.
The 5-foot-11 point guard has continued to open eyes in the spring and summer months. Playing for the EG10 squad at the 15U level, he averaged around 16 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds on the circuit according to a report today by Rivals.
Lander also played to rave reviews at Indiana’s team camp in June in front of the IU coaching staff. What they all see is a young man with impressive speed and handles to go with the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter.
Illinois became the first power five program to offer Lander this week, but they won’t be the last. He has already taken visits to Indiana, Michigan and Purdue.
Fortunately for Indiana fans, he got to see Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at its absolute best. He was in Bloomington last November when the Hoosiers battled No. 1 Duke in front of a frenzied full house.
In that same Rivals report, Lander indicated that he intends to get back to Bloomington this month. Other reports have indicated that he plans to attend Hoosier Hysteria as well.
With three years of high school left to go in the Hoosier state, Lander seems likely to generate some hysteria himself along the way.
Note: Also included in the list was the first and only player that IU has offered in the class of 2021 — Terrence Clarke. He is the top rated player in the country in the 2021 class according to 247Sports.
You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier